Editor’s Note: This Sunday, May 13 is Mother’s Day, but we’re celebrating all week long! Join us on the Harlequin Blog where some of our biggest authors are stopping by to talk about moms, both fictional and the ones that raised us! Today we have Robyn Carr, author of Sunrise Point, the LATEST Virgin River novel (Mira Books).

All devoted mothers have earned a special, spacious, well decorated condo with a view in heaven.  But there are a few special mothers who should get castles.  Let me tell you about a few of them.

Amy is a Marine Sergeant.  She’s committed to her military job, the men and women she serves and leads.  It isn’t easy leaving her children behind when she deploys; she needs a very powerful support system because she is also married to a Marine Sergeant.  So meet Lydia, Amy’s mother.  There was a time, a few months, when Amy and her husband’s deployments overlapped.  Lydia was the one to step in and take care of two small children during that overlap.  Amy saw her baby daughter take her first steps on video cam.  You hardly ever see a Marine Sergeant cry.  You would have seen it that day.

Meet Joan, the mother of a soldier.  She’s not all that computer savvy, but when her son went to Iraq, she figured out a few things, including Skype.  She kept track of the time difference so she could be there for him whenever he had time for her.  To hear Joan tell it, she had more deep, philosophical and spiritual conversations with her son while he was in Iraq than ever before in his thirty-five years.  To hear her son tell it, his mom helped get him through it.

And here’s Maureen, whose son is a recently returned hero, and a triple amputee.  He’s young, determined, strong, but he still has many needs.  He not only needs lots of rehab, he will need continuing medical support until he’s fully functional.  He isn’t ready to live independently yet and sometimes finding all the avenues to support is difficult and exhausting.  But a mother like Maureen is up to the task – that’s her child.  She doesn’t even have to think about it.  She’ll help the Army get him on his feet…er, you know….

Say hello to Susan.  She is a Marine wife and mother of three.  Now she’s a caregiver and mother and volunteer for the Wounded Warriors Project.  Her husband came home with a hundred percent disability and she is so grateful to have him home, to be able to unite their family again.  But there aren’t enough hours in the day for Susan – yet with the support of other wives of disabled warriors, friends and family, somehow she does it.  What her growing children see is a woman whose love somehow makes her creative and strong.

That’s just a few – I have a few thousand more.  Castles, all.  God bless every military woman, wife, daughter and mother.  Happy Mother’s Day from a grateful America.

Editor’s Note: This Sunday, May 13 is Mother’s Day, but we’re celebrating all week long! Join us on the Harlequin Blog where some of our biggest authors are stopping by to talk about moms, both fictional and the ones that raised us! Today we have Susan Mallery, author of Almost Summer, the NEWEST Fool’s Gold novella (HQN Books).

I often hear from single readers who are still looking for The One. They’re tired of dating losers, and they want to know where they can meet a man like the heroes in my books. I tell them good men are out there, and they’re worth the wait. There’s truth to the adage to watch how a man treats his mother if you want to know how he’ll treat his wife. His respect for women – or lack thereof – will show.

I love a man who loves his mom. I don’t mean a mama’s boy. I mean an independent, grown man who has transitioned from needing her to nurturing her. He considers taking care of his mother his responsibility, especially if his dad’s no longer around, and it’s an obligation he willingly bears on his broad shoulders. After all, she cared for him when he was a child; it’s only right that he should watch out for her now. He will do whatever is in his power to make sure that she’s happy and safe.

In SUMMER DAYS (May 2012), Rafe Stryker storms to Fool’s Gold because he thinks that Heidi Simpson sold the Castle Ranch to his mother and then refused to hand over the deed. His mom was bilked once before in the small California town, and Rafe will do anything to keep that from happening again – even work the land himself while a judge determines the rightful owner. After years of ranch work when he was a kid, to help support his family, Rafe went to business school so that he’d never have to be a cowboy. But if that’s what it takes to protect his mother’s interests, then he’ll saddle that horse gladly.

When you do meet a man like Rafe, hold on tight . . . and thank his mom for raising such a fabulous son!

There’s no discounting the importance and power of “Mom,” in real life and in fiction. So often, the personality traits of my characters can be credited to their backgrounds, and specifically, to the parenting they received while growing up. I’ve written characters with wretched upbringings, and characters that came from close knit and attentive families.
Good or bad, mothers offer great influence – but “Mom” doesn’t necessarily have to be the one who birthed you.

In my writing, I like to show that family is what you make it. Unconventional units are often just as strong as those more traditional. Brandi, from both Fantasy and then later The Secret Life of Bryan, was adopted into a wonderful family and although she was different, she was no less loved. Mick, from Caught in the Act (later reissued as Enticing), had the wounded soul of a boy who grew up without a mother’s care. It wasn’t until his late teens that he met a woman who not only became a pseudo-mother, but also made him a part of her family, and in the process, taught him what it is to be loved.

In my series featuring the Buckhorn brothers, Sawyer, Morgan, Gabe and Jordan (reissued as Buckhorn Beginnings and Forever Buckhorn), it took an amazing woman with plenty of love to teach proper values to alpha sons who all towered over her. I loved their mother because she went through it all—the death of one husband, divorce from another—and finally, after much resistance, her sons saw her find true love again.

That’s such a powerful and optimistic message for growing boys to witness.

Unfortunately, it’s not like that for everyone. In A Perfect Storm, Arizona Storm has very mixed feelings about her momma. As a child, she wasn’t as protected or cared for as she should have been, but her few fond memories are of her mother – and losing her leaves a wound that won’t heal.  Luckily, Arizona has a fighter’s spirit, and she won’t give up, not even on herself. It was the loss of her mother, as much as anything else, that molded Arizona into such an amazing young lady.

With Spencer Lark at her side, you can believe that when they have children, Arizona will show us all how it should be done. As with everything else in her life, she’ll be hands-on, outspoken, willing to learn, and so caring that her kids will always know what it means to have a mother’s unconditional love.

Editor’s Note: This Sunday, May 13 is Mother’s Day, but we’re celebrating all week long! Join us on the Harlequin Blog where some of our biggest authors are stopping by to talk about moms, both fictional and the ones that raised us! Today we have Sarah Matheny, author of Peas and Thank You (Harlequin Nonfiction).

No matter what diet gurus may tell you, food is love.  At least it has been since I was a kid, though I feed my family a little differently than my own mom fed us.

Food has always been just one of the ways my mom expressed her love for my dad, my brothers and me, be it the big pot of chicken noodle soup Mom would whip up at the slightest sign of a sniffle or the rich chocolate chip cookies that would await us when we came in from an afternoon playing in the snow.

Mom never has been a big fan of change (which explains a lot about those fantastic 80’s style-tapered jeans she likes to wear still).  So while initially she was skeptical of our switch to a vegetarian diet, I think she was relieved when she learned that we weren’t going to be nursing our colds and warming ourselves with rabbit food.  And frankly, I think my husband let out a big “Hallelujah!” as well.

Even without eating the standard American fare, food can still be comfort.  It can be warm and soothing, like my Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup.  It can be gooey and decadent, just like my Banana Chocolate Chip Millet Muffins.  And it can just so happen to be good for you too.

Food is love.  And today, even my Mom gets in on the act, proudly adding my recipes to her repertoire as well.

Now if only I could get her to give up those tapered jeans.

Editor’s Note: This Sunday, May 13 is Mother’s Day, but we’re celebrating all week long! Join us on the Harlequin Blog where some of our biggest authors are stopping by to talk about moms, both fictional and the ones that raised us! Today we have Meaghan Mountford, author of Sugarlicious (Harlequin Nonfiction).

As one who spends her days making and writing about sweets for a living, I often forget the simple joys the kitchen can bring. It takes my four-year old pushing her stool up to the counter and scrambling up to the mixer to remind me how simultaneously thrilling, fascinating and gross cracking an egg can be.

I can mix up six batches of my cut-out cookie dough in about fifteen minutes flat. It’s mechanical for me. So I need her to slow me down.  Because while it takes considerably longer and with much more dropped on the floor, when she dumps two cups of flour into the bowl she clearly feels older than her years. She feels grown-up, she feels like mommy. My goodness, what a stunning endorsement that she wants to feel like mommy.

And in a millisecond I’m back balancing on my own stool, wearing that blue and white stripe apron, helping my mom stir chocolate chips into her famous cookies.

One of my favorite go-to decorating tools for my four-year old–and myself!–is the food coloring pen. Food coloring pens let kids take a tool they already know how to use to create their own art in the kitchen. Use them on marshmallows, cookies topped with royal icing, or any dessert covered with fondant. (And hint to Dads, these cookies make a great gift from the kids for mom.)

I bake cookies and cupcakes and dip cake pops in candy and marshmallows in sprinkles for a job. How lucky is my kid? Only four and already a whiz at scraping down bowls and rolling out dough and wielding an icing bag. I’m proud of her skills, but even prouder she enjoys what I do. Because then we can make sweets together and my time spent working is time spent with her.

Photos provided by Meghan Mountford.

CAN CHANGING A TIRE CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

Katie Malone and her twin boys’ trip along the beautiful mountain roads to Virgin River is stopped short by a tire as flat as her failed romance. To make matters worse, the rain has set in, the boys are hungry and Katie is having trouble putting on a spare. As she stands at the side of the road pondering her next move, she hears a distinct rumble. The sight of the sexy, leather-clad bikers who pull up beside her puts her imagination into overdrive.

Dylan Childress and his buddies are on the motorcycle trip of a lifetime. But the sight of a woman in distress stops them in their tracks. And while the guys are checking out her car, she and Dylan are checking out one another.

In one brief moment, the world tilts on its axis and any previous plans Katie and Dylan might have had for their futures are left at the side of the road.

1. $2 off Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook

Loved the Christmas Eve Eggnog recipe I posted this week? Do you have a big Debbie Macomber fan on your Christmas list? Why not gift them with the Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook? From Dec. 14 – 21 you can save $2 off the cover price of the book with this exclusive coupon. The book is full of both recipes and crafts that you can use to create new traditions or provide fun alternatives to your own.

2. Carina Press Here Be Magic – the new Fantasy blog from Carina Press authors!

From December 17th through December 24th, Here Be Magic (a blog comprised of Carina Press fantasy and paranormal authors) will be running an amazing contest to celebrate the season of giving. Prizes include a brand new Kindle Fire, a virtual basket filled with over two dozen Carina Press titles, and a $25.00 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). No hoops to jump through, all it takes is a comment, so swing by http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/ starting December 17th to enter!

3. Carina Press’ Sea of Suspicion is now on sale in print!

Toni Anderson’s Sea of Suspicion is now on sale in print at Harlequin.com. We love when Carina Press titles move into print. We hope you’ll check out Toni’s novel!

Marine biologist Susie Cooper traded her life in America for a dream job on the rugged Scottish coast. Now all she lacks is the right man to start a family with. After their first meeting, she knows sexy Detective Inspector Nick Archer isn’t what she’s looking for. He’s the type of guy whose idea of commitment is staying the whole night.
Nick has returned to St. Andrews for one reason only—to fulfill his vow to find his wife’s killer. Relentless in his twelve-year quest for justice, he has no problem using Susie to get close to his primary suspect: her boss. But the passion between them smolders, and as it ignites, Nick finds himself torn between his past and his present—with Susie.
When one of her boss’s students is murdered, Nick’s investigation draws Susie into a web of madness and betrayal. They will have to learn to trust each other if they’re going to catch a killer…and come out of this alive.

And if you’re interested in more Carina Press titles in print, Marie Force’s Fatal Affair is still available.

4. Harlequin.com: Holidays@Harlequin: 12 Deals, 12 Gifts

Well, it’s hard to believe, but the 12 deals of Christmas are over. HOWEVER! There are still plenty of Gifts to come, so you should keep checking back to the Santa Tree for more deals. Visit Harlequin.com to check on today’s!

5. FREE Linda Lael Miller Cowboy Wallpaper

Alright, the moment you’re waiting for! Thinking about changing your desktop wallpaper to something a little more manly? How about this FREE wallpaper from Linda Lael Miller’s McKettricks of Texas series? Sexy as all sin and did I mention that it’s totally, utterly FREE? You can download it from Facebook today!

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins book trailer

I leave you today with the new (to me!) book trailer for Kristan Higgins’ Until There Was You (HQN Books). Kristan’s a big name around the Romance Mothership because her covers have been graced by some adorable pups. Check out the video to see more from Mumford, the latest “star” of her novel! (Rumour has it the next canine cover model is going to be pretty large too! Any guesses what kind of pooch it will be?) And in case you’re wondering, Kristan Higgins’ novels make great Christmas presents!

When I was younger, the majority of my Christmas traditions were Polish. We ate fish on Christmas eve, looked for the first star in the sky that evening, and, having found it, opened presents! Then my family expanded and our regular Polish traditions melded with new (to us) Canadian traditions, such as turkey stuffing, Christmas stockings and (my favourite) eggnog.

Now, you can always find eggnog readily available in the supermarket at this time of year. But it isn’t actually that difficult to make your own–and you get to learn how to do more fun kitchen techniques like emulsifying eggs in the process! (Okay, so maybe I’m a bit of a foodie nerd.) I was quite pleased when I discovered this recipe for Christmas Eve Eggnog in the Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook. I can always count on Debbie to bring a little extra holiday cheer into any recipe. She’s the Queen of Christmas, after all! The recipe is not difficult to follow and it’s a perfect addition to any holiday party you’re planning, including the most important one of all, whether it be on Dec. 24th or 25th!

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• Salt
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Garnishes: Ground nutmeg, chocolate shavings, cinnamon sticks

Method:

1. Place a large bowl in a larger bowl of ice water; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar until thick, for about 2 minutes.

3. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring milk, vanilla bean, and a pinch of salt to a simmer. Remove from heat; whisk 1 cup of this hot milk mixture into the yolks. Slowly pour yolk-milk mixture into milk remaining in saucepan. Place pan over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches 160F and is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

4. Strain eggnog base through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl in ice bath. Let cool for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, for about 1 hour.

5. Whisk brandy and cream into chilled eggnog. In large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar; beat on high until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whites into eggnog until blended. Cover, refrigerate for several hours or overnight, or until cold. Pour into a pitcher to serve. Garnish servings as desired.

Enjoy!

I hope you get a chance to try this recipe out. Let me know in the comments if you do. Or tell me what your favourite holiday recipe is. Maybe we can start our own Harlequin Blog holiday recipe collection?

Every year, when Thanksgiving is over, we put up our Christmas decorations and look forward to the holidays.  When I was a little girl, I used to live in Germany, and my mother bought a chocolate-filled Advent calendar for my brother and me.  I loved running downstairs in the morning to open it at the breakfast table and savor the delicious chocolate treat.

I continued the tradition with my own children, but this past year, I bought them a wooden Advent Calendar where I could fill it with my own treats.  Sometimes chocolate, sometimes gum drops, or even bubble gum.  They adored it, and half the fun was wondering . . . what will tomorrow’s treat be?

The Harlequin Historical authors are creating the same experience for you!  Starting Tuesday, November 29th, you can visit each of us on our advent-style calendar.  You can also join us at the Harlequin Community Boards here to find out what prizes are being offered and where to visit each day.

Special thanks to author Jeannie Lin for designing our advent calendar graphic.

Twenty-one authors will each host a giveaway of a daily prize, ranging from chocolate to gift cards, and even jewelry!  All of the entries will be gathered together for a grand prize drawing of a Kindle Fire loaded with Harlequin Historical books. (See our terms and conditions for eligibility. If Kindle Fire is not available in your country, a comparable Kindle will be offered, plus a gift card to make up the difference in price.)

Each time you click the calendar to visit an author’s web site, she’ll ask you to complete a task.  It might be commenting on her blog, e-mailing her the answer to a question, or becoming a fan on Facebook.  Then, on December 23rd, we’ll use random.org to pick our grand prize winner from among all of our entries.  The more sites you visit, the greater your chances of winning!

We hope you’ll enjoy sharing in this holiday season with the Harlequin Historical authors!

Harlequin is releasing six special 10th Anniversary Harlequin Blaze Collectors’ Editions from the original Sexy Six authors, featuring a brand new story PLUS their first Blaze title. You’ll relive the excitement and discover a new pleasure with authors Kimberly Raye, Jo Leigh, Tori Carrington, Julie Leto, Vicki Lewis Thompson, and Debbi Rawlins. Have a look at what’s in store:

(And, by the way, they’re available for preorder right now!)

Plus, for the next month each Sexy Six author is stopping by to give you their opinion on what TV shows, stories and movies would be “Better as a Blaze”! The authors will be chatting with readers as well. Check out our Harlequin Blaze Anniversary Page for more information (we’ll update it soon, don’t worry!) You’ll even get a chance to win the entire collection! How’s that for a little celebrating? It all starts this week, so stay tuned!